Come on, America, You're Better Than This: Stop Wasting Time Finger-Pointing and Just..Fix the Problems

While editing typos in the below post, I overheard a fight between a Dem and a Republican...so I'd like to leave this final encouragement. :)

This country has become entirely too polarized on these issues and it's clear, neither "side" has all the answers; in fact, it will take a combination of ideas from BOTH parties to find the solution.

This is doing us a great disservice, and we're wasting valuable time playing the "blame-game" and pointing fingers instead of just...fixing the problems.

I've often said that the worst thing the terrorists ever did on 9/11 was shake our faith in this country and each other, dividing us...and we're helping them succeed...and a house divided against itself cannot stand.

Though it's no secret that I'm a fairly liberal Dem, unlike a lot of liberals that claim they are tolerant (but in actuality, refuse to listen to the other side), I actually LISTEN to other viewpoints and concede/agree with Republicans on several issues; one of them being the types of government involvement we allow and how much.

In my opinion, if we'd investigate already-existing government waste and misappropriation of tax funds, we could MORE than accommodate a (limited) health care system for the people of our country without having to raise taxes.

And from a more liberal standpoint, to those who say they don't feel that they should have to pay for others to have healthcare at all?

I say that with leadership comes not only prosperity, but social responsibility. If that doesn't happen due to corporate greed, the government NEEDS to step in.

Conservatives seem to have no problem financing setting up schools and healthcare for the people in Iraq...but they DO have a problem financing healthcare and schools for people in your own country? Hmm.

So what do you say to one of the 30,000 people (and former taxpayers) who just lost their jobs with a major corporation, here in town, due to downsizing or outsourcing, then get a new long-term temporary job with half the pay and no benefits?

"It's not our responsibility?"

Oh really? Whose responsibility is it, then, and what are these people supposed to do for healthcare at half their previous pay?

So much for "trickle-down" economics. Did the 11-billion-dollar profit-per-quarter the oil companies (in which Bush and Cheney were heavily invested) made over the last few years trickle down on us?

So how about this, America...start listening to the validity in points made from "the other side."

It doesn't have to be "either/or" or "black/white."

Can you shed the arrogance and your need to be right in order to fix what's broken?

How about we work harder TOGTHER to find a plan that is PARTIALLY government subsidized/socialized healthcare? Watching the mistakes other countries have made in implementation only puts us at an advantage: We can learn from their mistakes and do our best not to repeat them.;)

As for moral issues such as gay marriage and abortion, I'm sorry; though a (liberal) Christian (and a Theraveda Buddhist), nowhere in the bible did Jesus ever take away anyone's right to free will by law.

In fact, if we read the same bible (and I think we did), Jesus wasn't such a fan of convention, Jewish OR Roman law. He felt these laws were being abused by the greedy hypocrites to oppress the poor and powerless classes. In fact, Jesus' biggest problem was with hypocrites and the greedy; a point that has been completely lost on Christians today.

So if God gave us the right to free will, the right to choose his way or not...who are YOU to take it away?

We ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God, all of us. So worry about your own "sin" instead of trying to control by law the "sin" of other people, especially if it doesn't affect you.

Take the log out of your own eye and stop snap-judging others so harshly without really knowing them (from either party)...and for God's sake, show some Christ-like compassion towards one another for a change.

Come on, America, you're better than this and we're wasting time. If we're ever going to heal and find a resolution to these problems, we have to:

1. Suck it up and quit bitching (especially without offering an alternative solution).

2. Stop playing the blame game/pointing fingers, it doesn't matter now.

3. Take responsibility for mistakes BOTH PARTIES made, as well as allowing certain members of both parties to be held accountable for unethical behavior.

4. Start listening to other points of view than our own.

5. Roll up our sleeves, work together, and just..FIX IT...Jaysoos.:)

Southernspeak4

Epilogue: My 40th Birthday/First Tat: Vote Ladies! The Iron-Jawed Angel"

So, um, I'm turning 40...sigh.;) Hehehe, actually, I'm really happy about it, I'm just now hitting my stride in life... and I don't look so bad for my age...Cougar and all that I am...grrrrrrawwrrrrrr.

Kiiidddddinnnng. Though I have no shortage of younger men interested, I'm... not exactly cougar material.:)

So I've been asking everyone what to do for my 40th birthday in December. A small suare or a big bash on a Cincy riverboat cruise? Some said I should skydive/jump out of a plane; others said I should bungee-jump off of a bridge, adrenaline rush?

Um...I'm pretty sure the point is that I made it to 40 without anything catastrophic happening to me (wellll...um, that's debatable, lol, but I survived)...so...why would I want to tempt fate, lol?

I decided to have a small get-together with closer friends, some of whom (the brave ones) are going to a tat parlor to get my first and only tat and their own piercings/tats, then get liquored up and bar-hop around Cincy in a limo with a sunroof...and then we shall randomly sex up whomever we choose and as many people as we choose, indiscriminately.

Okay, I made the last part up? Hehehe.

So what is the tattoo, you say?

After seeing the HBO movie "Iron-Jawed Angels," my friends and I decided that a conceptualized tattoo of this was a perfect representation of me. I've been looking at local artists to try to find someone who can conceptualize it before my birthday; so far, no luck. I may get the tat AFTER my birthday because I will wait to find someone who "gets it." If you haven't seen the movie, watch it and you'll get it.

"Iron-Jawed Angels" tells the story of Alice Paul, who, after Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, gave the final push for the 19th amendment to the constitution; the right for women to vote and have a voice. These little itty-bitty women, barely 5 feet tall, standing outside the White House, holding banners with determined jaws, were likened by journalists to "Iron-Jawed Angels."

Before the amendment, meeting resistance from men AND women (who seemed to care more about their own political power than their cause), Alice Paul stood outside the White House and read President Wilson's own words regarding freedom and raising our voices, stirring up support for World War I.

Alice reads Wilson's words and loudly exclaims, "Freedom and raising our voices? I guess not if you're a woman..." and tears up his written words, throwing them into the fire.

Men began yelling and grabbing at the women and their banners, pummeling them to the ground, telling them to go home to their children, they were unpatriotic...and the women fought back.

The result was the little posse of iron-jawed angels, peaceably assembling in front of the White House, were carted off to prison on charges of "obstructing traffic" and inciting a riot, lol.

The men received no charges at all.

What a surprise.

When Alice breaks a window for fresh air for the prisoners and begins a hunger strike for their cause, she is sent to the insane asylum in solitary confinement. Word leaks out to the press that Alice has led the women in a hunger strike there and that the staff began brutally force-feeding her, so a male psychiatrist evaluates her. The result is she is cleared, the force-feeding stops, and he releases this statement regarding her:

"In women, courage is often mistaken for insanity."

The result is a public outcry, the women are released, Wilson does a 180, and the amendment is finally passed.:)

Why is it when Gandhi led a hunger strike to have a voice in government in his own country, he's a hero...but when Alice Paul does the same thing three years later, she's crazy? Nobody force-fed Gandhi. I'll tellyou why...because unfortunately in our society, in men, passion + frustration + bravery make a hero...but in women, passion + frustration + bravery are equated with insanity.

Things haven't changed much, except that women have learned to play this card to discredit and silence other women; however, the "gaslighting" card is misogynistic historically...men have always played the insanity card to discredit and silence women.;)

Where will the tat be? Between my hoo ha and my right hipbone, lol.

Why this tattoo? For memory's sake...because I don't fight causes or even stand up for anything anymore, I've had my share and failed miserably.

I finally realized that especially on the net, it really doesn't matter if you're telling 100% truth, how much factual evidence/proof you present, or how many loopholes you can find in the other's story/argument or logic, and it doesn't matter how calm you are..people will believe what they want to believe, especially on the net...the one with the penis always wins, internet OR real life (or the phoniest person/best pathological liar, male or female).

Otherwise, I don't even try to write at all anymore...but at one time, I did...lol...I sure as hell DID finally stand up for MYSELF instead of just defending other people...a few times in life now...and the iron-jawed angel will be there to mark it on my 40th birthday....nobody knowing she's there but me...and those whom I choose to show it too.;)

"Chrys" or Chrystal Smith/Southernspeak4...Iron-Jawed Angel of Blogger.;)

P.S. Election 2008: See "Iron-Jawed Angels" and VOTE, ladies...what those women endured for the right for YOU to have a voice!

I personally will vote this Tuesday against any political party that has consistently played on our worst national fear of terrorism by using fear tactics and smear campaigns to start wars and/or win elections.

"Obama: The change we need." I'm counting on it. Make us proud to be an American again...and for a change.


Chrys or Chrystal Smith/Southernspeak4